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Re: Does doubling hurt oboe embouchure?

Author: oboesax
Date: 2011-05-19 15:19

This past fall, my daughter auditioned for a youth orchestra on both oboe and bassoon. Each audition required about 20 minutes of playing, including performing the 1st movement of the Mozart concerto and orchestral excerpts. At the end the auditioners quizzed my daughter and asked which one was her "primary" instrument. She didn't know what to say, as she didn't want to mention the sax. One of the jurors remarked that he wasn't going to let her in the orchestra on an instrument that wasn't her "primary" one. I told my daughter to tell them it was oboe, so that's what she'll be playing in that orchestra for 4 years. She could have been 1st bassoon this upcoming year, as she's better than the one they've got, but they don't see it that way.

Anyway, we learned from that. This week she is applying for a fellowship with a major symphony orchestra where she'll get free oboe lessons if she is selected. I re-wrote her resume to reflect that she is only an oboe player, and I told her oboe teacher not to mention the saxophone in his recommendation.

I've been told that the major conservatories will not allow her to "major" on two instruments. And I agree with the posters who questionned that music schools allow piano (???) but not a second woodwind. My daughter doesn't like piano either.

It does help her tremendously to play other instruments. Earlier in the week she was stressed out practicing her oboe concerto for this week's audition. Then she got the chance to play 1st clarinet in the Magic Flute with her school's orchestra, and she having a lot of fun with it.

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